The Bataan Death March

By Major Federico Foz, 45th Infantry Regt. (PS)

When the Bataan Forces surrendered to the Japanese invaders, approxi­mately 76,000 men were captured, including 15-18,000 sick and wounded in two hospitals in Little Baguio. On the same day on April 8, 1942, Gen. Wainwright ordered the three battalions of the 45th Infantry Regiment (PS) be moved to Corregidor to stiffen the defenses of the island. But the buses were snarled along the way. The 76 American nurses were evacuated with key officers who later were sent to Australia.

Before joining the march, heavy artillery pieces were bombarding Corregidor relentlessly. The big guns of the island fired back and landed near us. We prayed that we would not be casualties from our own. When the Japanese conquerors arrived, they asked who among us fought at the Points: Quinawan, Paysawan and Silaim Points. The Japanese took one American officer to show them where the enemy was buried. Approximately 800-1,200 of them perished during the landing on the west coast of Bataan. The officer was never seen again.

My group joined the march about noon on April 11th and reached Balanga, the Capital of Bataan, late in the evening. We were confined within a church compound for the night. Early morning on the 12th as I was heating my cup of coffee with some other POWs, I met my cousin Manuel Acosta, a Philippine Military Academy graduate of the class 1940, with his left arm—which was missing—was still bleeding. His arm was amputated a few days before the surrender on April 9, 1942. We had a long embrace and shared my cup of coffee with him. I had plann­ed to escape from Balanga where there are two ways to execute—one to the swamps leading to Hagonoy, Bulacan connecting to Manila Bay and the other is toward the north to the Zambales Mountains. But I gave up the idea.

I was lucky to have gotten rid of my individual weapon before the shake down. We marched in four rows of 50 men in a group. We reached the town of Lubao, Pampanga late in the evening with no food or water to drink. We were prohibited from drinking from leaky wells along the way. Those of us who dared were shot or bayoneted to death. And no one was left alive behind. We were confined in a warehouse packed like sardines. If anyone stood, he would be standing the whole night. We were so dehydrated that I do not remember urinating during the march.

Before reaching Guagua, Pampanga, my cousin became weaker and weaker; we were far behind from our group. A guard approached me and gave me a bayonet thrust. I ducked but the tip of the bayonet hit my sack I was carrying on my right shoulder. I left my cousin and signaled to walk faster. The guard aimed his gun on me, but I was with the group.

The Nurses including 76 Americans and key military officers left their patients reluctantly for Corregidor. The patients were left behind without food and medicine in the open field of Little Baguio in Bataan. Then in 72 hours they were told to go home. There was no other road of exit out of the peninsula. So, they had to travel the Death March route and into the killing field.

Out of the estimated 76,000 men captured there were only about 50,000 men that reached Camp O'Donnell, Capas concentration camp. During the march a few dozen Americans and hundred or a couple thousand Filipinos escaped.

According to estimates, there were still about 18,000 men missing or who died on the Death March. Considering the number of men missing on a 65-mile stretch, there was a prisoner killed in every fifteen to twenty paces.

On the 4th day, things were getting heavy to carry. I threw away most of my clothes except my mosquito bar, an empty can, and small towel to protect my head from the heat of the sun. Even before the surrender or capture in Bataan, we were having effects or symptoms of malaria, beri beri and dysentery. My hemorrhoids were already bleeding, aggravated by the heat and carrying heavy load of equipment during the fighting.

After five days we finally reached San Fernando, Pampanga where we were loaded in boxcars with closed doors. We could hardly breathe. We had to rotate to breathe through nail holes for air. When the guards finally opened the doors, people along the way threw goodies crying and cursing the enemy.

Upon reaching the town of Capas, we again marched a few miles to reach the concentration camp called O'Donnell. Stepping into the compound, I was determined to survive because disease is my only enemy. My empty can and small towel came in handy. I had a sponge bath every morning with little water from the kitchen.

My first detail was to carry the dead to the cemetery nearby. One of the men fainted and rolled into the pit. We were not allowed to assist him. The guards ordered him buried too. We were helpless and not even a word of praise. When I returned to my barracks, they separated the officers from enlisted. I did not see my cousin Manuel until after our release due to sickness.

About December 1942, the Americans were transferred to Cabanatuan, Nueva Ecija 50 miles away. They left more than 1,600 men buried in Camp O'Donnell. More than 2,600 Philippine Scouts also died in Camp O'Donnell where a Memorial Plaque was placed in memory to those who perished.

The author, Major Frederico Foz, was a member of F Company, 45th Infantry Regiment, Philippine Scouts, and was a Corporal at the start of WWII. In July 1946, the Army commissioned him as a Second Lieutenant and assigned to HQ & HQ Company, 45th Infantry (PS). He was reassigned to the Continental U.S. and retired in 1961 with the rank of Major.